Zak Brisko of Greencastle pursues weatherman dream

Brisko, a 2007 graduate of Greencastle-Antrim High School, is studying journalism at Shippensburg University to be a television weather forecaster.

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By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Posted Dec. 31, 2012 at 11:15 AM

By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Posted Dec. 31, 2012 at 11:15 AM

GREENCASTLE — The first snowfalls of winter have been front-page news recently, but for a local college student, weather is the big news every day of the year.

Zak Brisko, a 2007 graduate of Greencastle-Antrim High School, is studying journalism at Shippensburg University to be a television weather forecaster.

But the 23-year-old novice weatherman isn't waiting to break big before getting his forecasts out to the public. Brisko and a team of his weather-loving friends have created their own website to forecast local weather news and highlights.

Getting hooked

When Brisko was 3, the blizzard of 1993 hit the region, and Brisko said his interest in how the storm made snow was piqued. Three years later, in 1996, the area saw another blizzard and Brisko was "hooked."

"I've been studying weather patterns and forecasting ever since I was 8 years old. I really got into forecasting by public media when I was 13," he said.

It hasn't always been an easy ride for Brisko to pursue his dream, however. He suffers from a rare autoimmune disorder called autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). The disease incurs a number of issues related to his blood stream and, for Brisko, has caused thrombocytopenia, or low blood platelets.

Brisko must travel to Bethesda, Md., every six months for ALPS-related check-ups by the National Institutes of Health, which only began studying the illness in depth after 1990.

"I've been in the hospital a number of times for low blood platelets, but lately medicine has kept things in check," he said.

Local forecasts

Earlier this year, Brisko and his best friend Ryan Krimm created The Hazardous Weather Prediction Center, which forecasts weather for the tri-state region, and can be seen online via Facebook or its website: www.hwpcwx.org.

He added that getting one's weather predictions from the HWPC has an advantage over national weather stations like The Weather Channel.

"TV and radio basically are just quick forecasts for the local area because they have to forecast for the whole nation and every city," Brisko said.

The HPWC can provide local weather "on a more detailed level," he said.

The team can even provide what it calls "Yorecast," available through the website. Readers can sign up for individualized forecasts for their homes delivered by one of three ways: an e-mailed .PDF format, phone calls or texts, or even an at-home presentation with photo slideshows and graphs.

Self-made

Brisk and Krimm, and a few other teammembers, maintain the website themselves. They make their own weather maps using Photoshop software after analyzing weather patterns and other forecasting models, said Brisko, who has his own weather station and radar programs at his Greencastle home.

Page 2 of 2 - The HWPC puts its results on its wesbite along with interpretations and predictions, and Brisko posts everything to the Facebook page as well.

"We've been averaging 100 views per day on the website with about 500 on Facebook," Brisko said. "Views vary depending on how active the weather is."

The website saw more activity around the end of October, when Superstorm Sandy hit.

"We were spot on," Brisko said about his predictions for the storm.

For the winter of 2013, Brisko expects below-normal temperatures for the region but an average snowfall amount, according to the website.

"February will be the most favorable month for the East for cold and snow," the website says. "Pretty much an average winter ... but, compared to last year, it may (not) seem like it."